Being Happy in an Unhappy Worldનમૂનો

King Solomon was the wisest and wealthiest of all the kings of his time. Some have argued that he was the richest in history. He had wealth, fame, power, influence, seven hundred wives, and three hundred concubines (1 Kings 11:3). Yet he wasn’t happy.

Too late in life, the man who had everything the world says we’re supposed to want found himself lacking the one thing he sought — happiness with meaning and purpose. For him, it was “grasping for the wind.” Impossible. Frustrating. Pointless.

The television and the internet proclaim that some new product, investment, vacation, or achievement will make you happy. Each new idea is presented as exactly what you need to get thehappiness you deserve. The world is always willing to sell you “happiness.” But it is looking for it in all the wrong places.

It’s vital to distinguish between being religious and being spiritual because happiness is not found in religion. Religion is a pretense of godliness held together with the glue of idolatry, ritual, rules, and the traditions of men.

Religion thrives on human traditions that exclude the immutable commandments of God. The Pharisees were religious. They attended worship faithfully — but only to be seen by men. Jesus did not consider their ritual a substitute for righteousness.

Ruts are easy to follow, but they only lead where others have gone. Tradition is a religious rut that holds on to the past and resists change. It stunts spiritual growth, destroys the adventure of faith, and squashes the move of the Holy Spirit.

The Bible says, “Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry” (1 Samuel 15:23, KJV). Religion is saturated with idolatry. There is a sobering truth that stubbornness is tantamount to idolatry.

Authentic happiness cannot be found in religion. It is found only in a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ, where “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV).

Paul wrote, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22–23, ESV). Happiness is not found in rote religious ruts. True happiness is a result of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and walking and growing with God, day by day.